Case Head Color Fill - Any ideas?

[Dutchninja]

As I was inspecting the 38 special brass I'm selling, I came across a few cases that have the head stamp color filled in. (See photo below) What struck me was the fact that it survives SS pin washing and only comes off if I take a knife point to it. When it comes off it seems to flake off as shown in the missing color on the examples below. I'm assuming it is not factory done. It has been on brass as well as nickel plated. I thought I saw it on different head stamps as well.

Any ideas how to duplicate it? Is is just nail polish? It's not wax or a Sharpe marker either. Also, it is not Dykem blue either, that comes clean off after tumbling with SS pins. Just thought it was neat..

88183

[LUBEDUDE]

I see red around the groove of the primer. This makes me think that it may be some stout primer seal.

The applicator may have been the artistic type, and just went a little over board.

[Dutchninja]

That is part of it that flaked off, no primer sealant appears to have been used. I decapped on other one and there is no sign of sealant used on that one either.

[bedbugbilly]

Is this range brass that you've picked up? I'm wondering if someone who reloaded it marked it with nail polish to possibly sort brands when reloading? It would take some effort but I could see the possibilities in doing something like that - a different color for different brands to help sort it out. Just a thought . . . . Or maybe a way to distinguish one person's brass from another?

[TJF1]

Maybe +p markings

[Dutchninja]

It is stuff that is from police contract brass. They would buy new ammo and then send it to the shop after practice for potential reloading for the department later. Then everyone switched from 38 '357 to 9mm 40 or whatever so no more 38. So I'm not sure if it is in fact marking for specific loads of some type. I mean it's a second kind of cool, especially if you PC with a similar color. I'll try to nail polish when I have some time. Leaving for deer hunting tomorrow.

[blaser.306]

When I bought my wife her GP100 the 1 piece of brass that came with the gun had the whole base coated in red, I presuume from proof firing?

[dbosman]

I've done that type of coloring, with a finger. One finger to apply the color and nine others to wipe the paint off the base. Rinse and repeat.

[Dutchninja]

Bosman - with finger nail polish or what.

Btw have family that lives off cedar st there in Lansing.

[dbosman]

Rustoleum.
A stenciling brush and thick paper towels to wipe the excess might work and save cleaning the fingers.

The Lansing area is interesting. For people from a small town, it's big. For people from a big city, the area is small. The entire tri-county population is about 450,000. A lot of us came to MSU and never left the area.